Parent Letter

July 10, 2025

As we are in the middle of July, it's high time for a school update! As usual, there are many pieces coming together nicely.  

The last few weeks have been very fruitful in the area of staffing, and as of yesterday, we officially have a full staff for the 2025-26 school year.

  • We are expecting another Foster Grandparent.  Grandma Sue plans to stay with us through December, but she and her husband are planning to travel after that; so the addition of another Grandma was very timely!  
  • Joan Driemeyer will be our new librarian.  She comes to us with many years of public library experience.
  • Sara Gorecki has resigned as our school nurse, and Dodie DeRynck promptly accepted this position.
  • Megan Hennen is excited to join our staff as the Children’s House Assistant.  She brings much wisdom and knowledge with her.
  • Guy Cardinal has accepted two positions within our school; he will be our new PE and Health teacher as well as our Afterschool Program Director.  He comes to us from St. Mary’s University in Winona and brings with him so much energy!

Please personally thank each of those individuals who are moving toward other goals in their lives for their dedicated service to St. Edward School and welcome those joining our family.

I am also very happy to announce that our State funding for the next two years has been approved, so transportation and our other programming will not undergo any significant changes.  I know many of you reached out to our legislators. Thank you!

Our can trailer is almost overflowing!!  We need someone to haul it to AlterMetal in Marshall to get it emptied.  This has been a longstanding fundraiser for us and does provide about $2000 of our annual budget dollars.  If you (and a friend) are willing to do this, please reach out to us via phone or email.

There is an Education Committee Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, July 15th at 6 pm in the Knights of Columbus Hall.  These meetings are open to the public.  Anyone interested in Education at St. Edward Church and School is encouraged to attend.

On that note, we are looking for someone to lead an Early Family Catholic Life program within our parish.  This is on a similar platform as ECFE, but has a Catholic theme.  The purpose is to build strong Catholic families.  If you (and a friend) are interested, please reach out to Mrs. Garvey.

From our History teacher, Miss Novotny:  There aren't many around here anymore, but the Icelanders were the first Europeans to come to the area that became our fair City of Minneota.  The local historical society (SPMH) is celebrating the 150th anniversary of this early settlement.  Check out the attached poster for events on the weekend of 26-27 July.  Even if you're not Icelandic, come check it out!  Most of the stuff is at the beautiful and historic Opera Hall in downtown Minneota.  

Workshop week for staff will begin on August 11th.

The Wellness Committee will be meeting on August 11th at 3 pm in the Teacher’s Lounge.  All are welcome to attend.

We will have our Annual Family Fun Fest on Thursday, August 14th, beginning at 5 pm.  There will be a parent meeting at 6 pm in the Gym.   Look for more information soon.

School begins on Wednesday, August 20th for 1st – 8th grade students; Wednesday, August 27th, for Kindergarten students, and Preschool will begin on Tuesday, September 2nd.

Our 2nd Alumni Mass of Gratitude will be on Friday, September 5th at 10:30 am.

The following words are taken from the annual report that I am required to submit to MNSAA (our accrediting agency) each June.  Please take just a few more minutes to read them, as they are a synopsis of our past school year.

The 2024-25 school year provided us with many opportunities to learn about our school culture, how we conduct ourselves during unexpected twists and turns, and of course, about technology and how it is changing our lives so very quickly.

 

We began this school year again with increased enrollment; this enrollment bounced around a bit during the school year with a family moving away and another unenrolling, and still others enrolling during the middle of the year. These changes caused us to think about communication practices and how to more efficiently handle them within our FACTS system.

 

We also began the school year with new fiber internet and a new phone system. This added to our communication confusion as we learned to work with a firewall and the new phones.

 

We had a new After School Program Director, and as a result, our after-school program enrollment grew after a few years of decline.

 

The Principal and Preschool Staff attended training on the Catalyst Approach, which focuses on effective classroom management. This was a needed area of training, not because we have bad children, but quite the opposite; we have very good children, so we are out of practice when it comes to discipline. The Catalyst Approach focuses on arranging the environment and schedules in such a way that it makes everything work more smoothly. I simply love what I saw during training and am excited to announce that we will be proceeding with the Catalyst Approach throughout the entire school in the fall.

 

We also updated our English Language Arts curriculum to include HMH Into Reading/Into Literature for the middle school and Groves Literacy for the Elementary school. The elementary teachers (K-2) received comprehensive coaching throughout the entire school year and are now Groves Literacy Organization Certified Literacy Instructors. The 3rd and 4th grade staff will receive their training during the 2025-26 school year. Our NWEA and AimsWeb scores saw nice growth in our Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades in the area of fundamental language skills. I attribute that to Groves' Literacy and the ongoing coaching our staff received.

 

As part of the Groves Literacy contract, we began assessing our students utilizing the AimsWeb platform for reading. As part of our end-of-the-year discussions, teachers discussed what they liked and did not like about having both NWEA and AimsWeb assessments. They found that they liked the different data that each one provided, but that they did not like the class time that was lost; we came up with a new plan, which will be announced closer to the beginning of the school year.

 

During the State of the School meeting in May, we discussed our academic program and student achievement. St. Edward School teachers follow a set of academic standards that are a combination of Minnesota Standards and Cardinal Newman Society Standards.  This allows us to teach what we need to in a way that helps us to infuse our faith into each subject.

 

Analysis of our NWEA Scores for 2024-25 tells us that our achievement scores are above national averages for all areas tested and right at national averages for reading and language usage growth. 

 

In the realm of technology, our 5th–8th grade Chromebooks, 1st–4th grade iPads, and teacher laptops are all performing well.  New computers have been delivered for the technology lab, and the 1st and 2nd grade classroom will be receiving a different SmartBoard. 

 

In regard to our physical building, we are waiting for a quote from Bladholm Construction regarding installing an ADA ramp adjacent to the gymnasium. We would like to remodel our gymnasium as well.

 

During the stakeholders meeting, we discussed our budget in regard to where our funds go and how they are obtained. The goal is that funding for our school should come equally from the following sources: Tuition, Fundraising, and Parish Support. For that reason, tuition will be increased to $2450 per student. Fundraising goals have also been increased.  There will be more discussion on this in the fall.

 

The Marketing Committee was discussed, and the need to increase enrollment to keep costs lower for everyone. We are looking at a Kindergarten Class in the fall of 11, which is the highest it has been in many years!

 

May God Bless,

Mrs. Garvey